


bros before hoes

by antidons (Pogniscrow)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Meet the Family, Taeyong is the perfect fiance, doyoung is a neurotic mess, gong myung is just a general mess, jaehyun is a glutinous pancake boy with a lot of soft feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-10-08 14:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pogniscrow/pseuds/antidons
Summary: “I don’t know, hyung. Finding out sweet, caring Taeyeon who sends them cookies every year is actually an entire dude named Taeyong seems like a hallmark movie moment no one actually wants to experience.”Boy, is Doyoung so very, very wrong.





	bros before hoes

“Mom and dad won’t care. They’ll probably be more concerned about who I’ll be bringing anyway,” Donghyun murmurs over the phone.

 

“I don’t know, hyung. Finding out sweet, caring Taeyeon who sends them cookies every year is actually an entire dude named Taeyong seems like a hallmark movie moment no one actually wants to experience.”

 

Donghyun chuckles lightly over the phone, “That’s all on you. I just told you to tell them it was from your friend, you were the one who chose to give _her_ a name.”

 

“I panicked, okay?”

 

“I know, I know. But I assure you Doyoung, the person I’m bringing will make Taeyong look like a genetically-modified housewife pregnant with your straight-A, sports prodigy child,” Donghyun says with a giggle, “in any case, mom and dad won’t care. One glimpse of Taeyong and they’ll totally forget that he has a dick he sometimes sticks in your ass.”

 

“You are crude, and for your information, we switch.”

 

“Never said you didn’t, little bro.”

 

Doyoung smiles. Donghyun has always been a little off his rocker when they were growing up,  forcing his younger brother to do all the responsible son work most of their formative years. However, there were moments in their shared life that Donghyun found a way to remind his sibling that there are signs of maturity and strength in his brother that he, himself did not possess. That Doyoung had someone to sober him up when he go too drunk on his insecurities; and most importantly, he had an ally he’d have for the rest of his life.

 

“I can only wish to find something as genuine as what you have with Taeyong, bro. Mom and dad would be crazy to not see how happy he makes you.”

 

The one person he’s shared all of his insecurities and doubts with. The first one he came out to. And the person who knew him better than anyone else (though Taeyong would make a case for that position). Donghyun was the calm to the storm of anxiety forever raging in Doyoung’s mind. The ordered mess to Doyoung’s tyrannical control.

 

Donghyun grew up to be off kilter. Not that their parents minded. Having been former athletes themselves, they knew the struggles of having an unconventional profession. Though they never wanted their children to experience the difficulties of having to make money with unstable jobs, they acknowledged the role of passion in a career. So Donghyun grew up doing many odd things before finally settling into stage production. Doyoung, always the straight arrow (funny, how that worked out) who always had a foothold on what people expected, grew up with the dreams to be a corporate slave, and for the most part, he enjoyed it. Most people found him boring and somewhat of a debbie downer with the way he coerced nature itself to bow to his whim, but he did well in his job and made a decent living, so he learned to stop caring.

 

Growing up the way he did, the knowledge that he was not as straight as he initially thought himself to be (all pun intended) caused a little (read: major) inconvenience in his usually structured life. Though his parents never had anything obtuse to say about the LGBTQI+ community, they never said anything for it either. They always just assumed that both their sons were straight. And for the longest time, Doyoung was okay with that. It was just one facet of his life he would have to hide from his family, it wasn’t a big deal. Until, that is, it became a big deal.

 

The big deal coming in the form of Lee Taeyong, an artist he met through one of his company’s functions. Doyoung would never have thought that Taeyong would take a liking to him. He was not the most interesting in his team, Yuta was way more enthralling; Doyoung only knew how to talk about the most cost-efficient detergent and the sure-fire way to get your kitchen cupboards organized. Doyoung was also not the most attractive, that title would go to Johnny. Tall, charismatic Johnny with the tender voice and the smoldering smirk. Doyoung only had oddly shaped eyes and a smile that showed too much gum, more than is humanly necessary. But somehow, Taeyong saw him and reached out his hand first. He smiled all crinkling eyes and chipper laugh.

 

Turns out Taeyong was more than interested in the varying types of detergent, bleach and grease cleaner, one might have even considered him excited. They talked the whole night. For Doyoung, it was love at first conversation about the extraordinary cleaning powers of lemon and baking soda.

 

Donghyun was the first one to know, and also the first one to tell him to pounce at the first chance. _He clearly likes your sordid ass! And your smile is fucking charming you dolt,_ was what he said over the phone. The rest, as they say, is history.

 

Oddly enough, it was also Doyoung who finally found the guts to propose to Taeyong under the moonlight, with the stars as their background. Taeyong only shook his head in disbelief as Doyoung stuttered through his badly written speech of how much he loves his boyfriend’s everything (he almost dedicated an entire paragraph to his cute little flat ass, but in the end, chose against it). Taeyong only shed one tear as he accepted, “It’s about time, I was beginning to think we’d live the rest of our lives having premarital sex.”

 

“Let it go, bro, you’ll be fine. You’re going to get out of there with a new wedding planner in our mother,” Donghyun says, voice almost distant as Doyoung snaps back to reality.

 

Doyoung laughs and shakes his head, “Thanks hyung, I’ll see you and your secret lover then.”

 

“Can’t wait for you to hate me,” and with that Doyoung dropped the call.

 

 It was after their proposal that Doyoung realized he could no longer hide Taeyong from his parents. Donghyun was all gung-ho about this, obviously, but it did nothing to ease Doyoung’s nerves. Even Taeyong was calmer about the entire ordeal. He always had his head screwed in the right place; it’s why he made such a perfect partner for Doyoung, who usually got so unscrewed with worry that normal people would never know where to even start. It took a certain type of crazy to understand Doyoung, and Taeyong was just that. His fiancé’s reasoning was quite simple, and infinitely infuriating in its honesty“they raised my favorite person in the world, why should I even be worried?”

 

To attempt to alleviate the worry etched all over Doyoung’s face, Donghyun suggested he also bring someone to introduce to their parents. Donghyun didn’t have the best track record of significant others brought to meet their parents. He still remembers that Lena girl who was actually an illegal immigrant and was being hunted down by the Austrian government. His mother nearly had a heart attack while Donghyun explained why their dinnerg guest had to leave four days earlier during their holiday visit.

 

There’s a click of the lock of the front door as the other occupant of the apartment comes in.Jaehyun comes into the living room his face in a state of utter bliss, a clear indication of what he was doing last night, or more accurately who he was doing.

 

“Another late night, I take it.”

 

Jaehyun is his roommate of six months. He’s four years younger than Doyoung and a fresh graduate going on his first job as a graphic designer for some ad agency down in Myeongdong. In all honesty, Doyoung doesn’t know how he and Jaehyun got along so well and in such a short amount of time. Jaehyun was a bit messy and led a very unstructured life. The agency didn’t really abide by the regular working hours, often forcing his roommate to work overtime into the wee hours of the morning. This resulted in Jaehyun often coming home after a night of debauchery with some rando he met at a bar. Though Doyoung wasn’t all that fond of  his lifestyle, Jaehyun never brought his mess to the apartment, so Doyoung let it be. The first few weeks were bumpy until the younger of the two found that it was high time to have some sort of bonding session as new roommates.

 

It worked for the most part—even if Doyoung was screaming his head off when Jaehyun decided the most appropriate relationship building exercise was through a friendly game of paintball. Doyoung still remembers wanting to strangle his roommate to the ground after losing every single round. It was a start of an odd friendship that Doyoung eventually learned to appreciate.

 

Jaehyun was like that bratty younger brother he never had. The one who rebelled and did all the things their parents disapproved of. Doyoung often found himself getting more and more involved in the mess that was Jung Jaehyun. So much so, that he soon found himself picking up the moron from bars and kicking down the questionable men Jaehyun managed to wrangle from the sea of bad decisions.

 

Doyoung’s become oddly protective over Jaehyun in such a short amount of time that he even made it a point to meet all of Jaehyun’s serious flings face-to-face. Needless to say, most of them were fell short of Doyoung’s very lofty standards.

 

(“Hyung, please stop comparing them to Taeyong.” Jaehyun would whine.

 

 “You need someone like Taeyong,” Doyoung would reply.

 

“He really doesn’t,” Taeyong would mumble in the background.)

 

However, recently Jaehyun hasn’t been coming back from bars, but rather from someone else’s home. The new man in Jaehyun’s life has broken the spell of drunken tirades into the unknown for a more dignified walk of shame the morning after.

 

Needless to say, Doyoung finds himself in an odd state of worry over his roommate and his new beau. Jaehyun had not even made it a point to introduce this new man to Doyoung, and it bothered Doyoung a lot.

 

“The best night, we did five rounds.”

 

Doyoung grimaces at his roommate. Jaehyun may not have found it appropriate to share an image of the man he was screwing almost every night, yet he found it necessary to overshare his sexual escapades with him. As of now, Doyoung knew more about the dude’s long list of kinks before his actual name. Jaehyun was always one to kiss and tell, but his new acquisition was different. It’s as if Jaehyun wants to keep a small part of his new relationship, if one could even call it that, to himself—a possession.

 

“In any case, I’ll be sleeping over at Taeyong’s tonight,” Doyoung says, “We’re going to leave first thing in the morning. Will you be able to hold the fort while I’m gone for the week?”

 

Jaehyun settles beside Doyoung and rests his head on the other’s shoulder, “Change of plans, I’m leaving for the week too.”

 

“Oh, where you going?”

 

“Visiting a friend.”

 

“That’s nice, at least one of us will be enjoying our Christmas holiday. I’ll spend mine trying not to get disowned by my parents and hanging out with my brother’s new girlfriend.” Doyoung says despondent,” Doyoung says despondently, “I hope he brings a Soviet spy or something.”

 

Jaehyun chuckles, his voice deep with exhaustion, “My favorite story is still the contortionist who brought the entire Cirque du Soleil to your dining table.”

 

Doyoung huffs, “Don’t even remind me. My mother had that table replaced as soon as the new year came rolling in.”

 

Jaehyun grins into Doyoung’s chest, “Stay for a bit longer, hyung,” he says, cuddling closer to Doyoung, “I won’t see you for a week, it’s the least you can do.”

 

In the time that they’ve grown closer, Doyoung’s been treating Jaehyun less and less like a friend and more like family. Blame it on him having premium built-in hyung qualities without anyone to be a hyung to. Jaehyun was still young and naive, he still had a lot of things to learn, and Doyoung was ready and willing to help him along the way. Jaehyun didn’t mind—Doyoung thinks it’s because he gets free rides when he drinks. However, seeing him like this—clingy and warm—makes Doyoung feel that maybe Jaehyun felt the same way as well..  

 

Doyoung shakes his head at the man curled into him like a tired cat, but agrees to his whim, letting his fingers thread gently through Jaehyun’s hair as his roommate lulls to sleep.

…

 

“You really have to calm down, honey. You’re going to run yourself into a stroke before we even get off the train,” Taeyong says two hours into the ride over to Busan. Doyoung’s family used to reside in Guri, but once the sons left the nest, their parents decided to live in Busan as their mother always wanted a home next to the ocean.

 

“The more pressing question is why you’re not,” Doyoung says through his constant tapping on the console, “and don’t even try to start, I already know what you’re going to say.” Taeyong raises his hands in surrender before resting them on his fiancé’s trembling fingers.

 

“I know this is important to you, and that you really want your parents to like me, but even if they don’t, I’ll still be here,” he says, eyes trained directly at Doyoung, “I’m going to marry you with or without your parents’ blessings.”

 

Doyoung looks at Taeyong and manages to breathe. It’s just that, Doyoung realizes, he doesn’t want their blessing. There’s a whole lot of this that isn’t about him but about his parents learning to like the man he was about to marry. He wants to show his fiancé off. He wants to show his parents that he’s found someone so good, so patient, and so wonderful for him. Someone who makes him feel like he has enough headspace in his overcrowded mind to just be. A person who accepts him for what he is and isn’t. Someone who loves him like how his mother and father love each other.

 

It wasn’t about acceptance, nor tolerance. He wants his parents to know that Taeyong is the person who’s made him oh so genuinely happy. The one he wants to spend the rest of his life with.

 

“I just want them to be part of my life and yours,” he says inviting Taeyong to sit closer to him, “I want them to know you and learn to love you as much I do,” he says kissing the back of Taeyong’s hand, “I just want everyone to be happy.”

 

Taeyong leans closer, “I know they’re important, and this is such a brave thing you’re doing, but you can’t always make everyone happy, Doie,” Taeyong says inching closer to Doyoung.

 

“What do I always tell you?”

 

Doyoung smiles as Taeyong leans on his shoulder, admiring the golden bands adorning their ring fingers, “Do your best, and the rest will follow.”

 

Doyoung curls into his fiancé’s embrace as the blur of mountains and rice fields fades into black.

…

 

When their taxi pulls into the Kim household, Doyoung feels like the breath sucked out of him. The quaint beach house sits just a stone’s throw away from the shore. Two stories of pure white and a plush garden stands before them. There is fake tinsel wrapped around the windowsills and a small manger complete with wooden figurines sitting at the patio. The locals personally find it charming and inviting, and most of the year Doyoung finds it exactly like that. However, seeing it now feels like the gates of hell have opened up welcoming him to the end of his life.

 

Taeyong takes his hand and kisses it sweetly, “Ready?”

 

Doyoung shakes his head because no one is ever prepared to come out to their family. No one wants to potentially lose two people responsible for raising and loving them through their formative and not so formative years.

 

“Can’t we just buy you a wig and some prosthetics breasts and call you Taeyeon then just mysteriously leave?”

 

“Do you want me to drown you in the ocean? Because I can, the beach is literally right there.”

 

“But what will you say to my parents? They’ll want to find out what happened to their beautiful youngest son.”

 

“They’ll never know, they don’t know I exist. Remember?”

 

Doyoung meets Taeyong’s eyes and gulps, “Yeah, sorry about that.”

 

Taeyong shakes his head and caresses Doyoung’s face, “I know it’s hard. It can go either way, but you owe this to yourself and to them. They might reject you, but we have each other, okay? We’ll have each other for the rest of our lives.”

 

Doyoung’s eyes linger on Taeyong’s. He was not there when Taeyong’s parents kicked him out. He wasn’t there when Taeyong was all alone. No one was there, but Taeyong made it a point to continue living, to live free. When he found Doyoung, he already knew how to love and lose, to piece himself together when every fragment of his life got smashed into dust.

Taeyong knew pain. And from the moment he shared his painful past Doyoung decided wanted him to only know love, in all its capacity.

 

He’s never said it to him, but this entire trip wasn’t only for himself. He knows that come what may, he’ll have Taeyong and Donghyun, and people who genuinely love and support him, but he wants to give something back to the man he loves the most.

 

He wants to give some form of the parents he once lost.

 

So he steals his slowly receding gut and steps out of the car. He shoots a text to Donghyun to know where he is, his brother immediately replying. Doyoung reads the text and scoffs.

 

**From Hyung: We’ll be there in 3. Ready to get mom into a seizure?**

**To Hyung: It’s not funny. Just come here, I feel like I’m going to barf my intestines on the manger.**

**From Hyung: At least do it on that scary Santa mom keeps in the living room. Make it worth your while.**

**To Hyung: JUST GET HERE FASTER**

 

Doyoung groans as he sends the last text to his brother, Taeyong immediately taking notice, “Your brother giving you a hard time?”

 

“He’s turning my misery into his entertainment,” Doyoung grumbles as he helps Taeyong heave up the rest of the luggage from the trunk.

 

“Sounds like him,” Taeyong shrugs.

 

Once they take all the bags out of the trunk and give the payment to their driver, they are left alone with the two-story house, the manger and the Christmas decorations staring at them. The dread creeps in, and Doyoung is taking deep breaths.

 

Taeyong grabs his hand and squeezes it tight as they wait. They stand there for a few more moments when another taxi rolls in behind them. Doyoung doesn’t acknowledge the creaking of the door or the shuffling of feet against the gravel. He looks at the house and thinks of the people who live inside it. He regards all the memories with his parents that might be potentially tainted in bleak red. He thinks of the childhood memories he might only see in melancholy as moments when he _was_ loved.

 

A soft tap of his shoulder snaps him out of his stupor as his brother steps into vision. He looks at Doyoung pensively before flicking him on the forehead, “Stop overreacting and help me.”

 

Doyoung sneers at Donghyun, but follows.

 

“Where’s your plus one?” Doyoung asks as they go to where Taeyong is helping the driver lug an odd Japanese vase that Doyoung can only guess Donghyun picked up in his travels.

 

“Fell asleep during the ride, would you be a dear and grab ‘em?” his brother says.

 

“Why me?”

 

“Just do it,” Donghyun says with a smirk. Doyoung knows it means trouble, but follows, nonetheless.

 

He goes to the other side of the car and opens the door to a bundle of jackets curled into itself. Doyoung fondly remembers Jaehyun doing the same thing on the couch the rare occasion that he comes home sober and tired from work. He suddenly misses his fool of a roommate and makes a mental note to call him later.

 

He gently pries one layer of jacket off the body and gently rocks the body, “Hey, time to wake up, we’re already here.”

 

What comes after is a series of events Doyoung will have a difficult time ever forgetting, as the lump on the backseat murmurs, “Give me five more minutes Doyoung-hyung.”

 

Doyoung stops and realizes, after a moment of thinking, that it was a man’s voice. Not only was it a man’s voice, but a man’s voice that sounds distinctively like his roommate who was supposed to be away with his friend. More surprising is the fact that this lump of person does not only sound like Jaehyun, his roommate who was not supposed to be here as the significant other of his older brother he’s thought to be straight all his life, but he _talks_ exactly like him. Especially that special little ’Doyoung-hyung’ at the end.

 

“Jaehyun!”

 

The lump scrambles from its place to reveal a frumpy, bleary-eyed Jung Jaehyun staring back irate at the person before him. A moment passes as Jaehyun looks intently at Doyoung, his eyes slowly trying to make sense of his surroundings until his minds unscramble the mess before him.

 

“HYUNG!?”

 

It is undoubtedly Jaehyun who’s accompanied his brother to their home as the significant other, which means that Jaehyun was in a “relationship” with his brother.

 

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?” Jaehyun screeches.

 

“It’s my house!”

 

“THIS IS NOT YOUR HOUSE!” Jaehyun screams back.

 

“YES, IT IS!”

 

“NO, IT’S NOT!”

 

“THIS IS MY DONGHYUN’S HOUSE!”

 

“YOUR DONGHYUN?”

 

“MY BOYFRIEND.”

 

“YOUR BOYFRIEND?”

 

“YES!”

 

At this point, Taeyong, Donghyun and the cab driver have stopped whatever they were doing to watch in awe, shock, and confusion at the exchange between the two men.

 

“YOU’RE DATING MY BROTHER OH MY GOD.”

 

The news settles, and Doyoung recalls _all_ the stories Jaehyun shares with him about his mystery lover. All the wild sex. The chains. The Roleplaying. The feet licking. Doyoung feels sick to the stomach as the of rush nausea muddles his senses. He faces his brother’s suprised expression, Doyoung’s vision blurring as all the memories of Jaehyun fawning over his new lover race through his mind and intestinal organs. He manages to murmur a quiet, disgusted, “You have so many fucking kinks,” to his brother before seeing black.

 

—

 

Doyoung comes back to a very familiar room and a very familiar face looking at him with concern.

 

“Hyung, you’re awake,” Jaehyun says with a smile, “You gave us quite a scare.”

 

Jaehyun moves away to give Doyoung space to sit up. A cursory glance around tells him that he’s inside his parent’s house, in his designated guest room whenever he and his brother visit. It’s sparsely decorated, but he sees the sneakers he forgot his last visit sitting by the dresser and his favorite robe hung by the door—Jaehyun the only foreign entity in the room.

 

He’s groggy, and there’s a faint ache at the base of his neck. Jaehyun’s looking at him concerned, “You hit the pavement really hard, we thought you got a concussion,” he says with concern, “Your mom and Taeyong are getting ice.”

 

Doyoung’s eyes bulge at the mention of his fiancé and mother existing in the same space, and he suddenly feels light-headed again.

 

“D-does she know?” Doyoung asks.

 

Jaehyun bites his lip, “Donghyunie hasn’t said anything, but I think she’s already put two

and two together.”

 

“Dad?”

 

Jaehyun shakes his head, “He’s out. Bible study.”

 

Doyoung gulps, his mouth feeling extremely dry. His mind starts racing with thoughts, bad ones. What if his mother did not approve? What if she didn’t want anything to do with him? What if she, in her violent reaction, retaliates and blames Taeyong for making him the way he is? There are knives in the kitchen. She could stab him when he least expects it. A slit to the throat and he’s gone. But surely, she wouldn’t do that. She would talk to him at least. Right? She would try to at least extract an explanation before murdering his fiancé. Right?

 

He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder, “Hyung, lay back down, you’re not looking so hot.”

Doyoung is about to say something, but the door wrenches, with it a wave of people.

 

Taeyong flounces in with an ice pack in one hand and glass of water in the other. Behind him, his mother is looking surprised? Behind them stands a solemn-looking Donghyun.

 

“Taeyong-ssi, you really do not have to do anything. I can take care of it.”

 

Taeyong shakes his head, “Eomma, I insist. I’ll take care of Doyoungie. You have to watch the soup.”

 

His mother shakes her head in fond dissent, “You are guests in my house, not to mention my Doyoungie’s special someone. You shouldn’t be lifting a finger,” she says. She takes the ice pack from Taeyong’s hand before striking Donghyun a stern look, “Go help ice your brother’s head, he hit the pavement really hard.” His brother groans taking the ice pack and grumbling towards his younger brother. He sits behind Doyoung and shoves the ice pack rather aggressively on his neck. The sudden cold stings and Doyoung hisses as his brother shoves the ice pack more aggressively.

 

“Donghyun, if you don’t do it properly, I swear I will throw my slipper at your face. I still have fantastic aim. Don’t test me.”

 

Doyoung knows the severity of his mother’s aim. He stills remembers all the sandals hurled straight to the top of his care of his mother’s deadly aim. Growing up he always thought his mother lived a secret life as star hurling ninja or a sniper.She aims to kill and even after all this time, it still brings shudders to the Kim brothers’ skin.

 

Donghyun immediately lifts the pressure off Doyoung’s neck and proceeds to gently massage the sore spot on his neck. His mother comes forward and pats Doyoung’s cheeks, “You mister, you owe me an explanation,” she says with no bite, “but I think you and the others have some issues to settle by yourselves.”  She rises, giving Jaehyun and Taeyong tender smiles before she leaves the guest room.

 

Taeyong is smiling as he offers the glass of water. Doyoung takes it gratefully before downing it in one big gulp. Taeyong snickers before taking the glass back and settling himself beside Doyoung.

 

“How are you?”

 

Doyoung thinks. He just found out that his brother is dating(?) his roommate. He fainted on the pavement. His mother found out about his secret without any prior explanation. Most importantly, he now knows _all_ of his brother’s antics in the bedroom.

 

So, all-in-all, “Pretty shit is an understatement, I think.”

 

Taeyong smiles fondly brushing off the stray hairs off his face, “You’re overreacting again,” he murmurs softly, “and I was right.”

 

Doyoung looks at him oddly.

 

“You have a wonderful mother. Absolutely wonderful.”

 

Doyoung sees a spark glint in his fiancé’s eyes. It’s like a hope rekindled. Like embers tendered by the warmth of a mother’s embrace.

 

Doyoung smiles, “I-“

 

“Okay enough of that, I’ll get a hernia seeing you two. Jesus.”

 

Doyoung directs his attention to his brother, who’s silently sulking behind him, “Why’s mom mad at you?”

 

Donghyun rolls his eyes, “Her precious Doyoungie fainted on the pavement. Of course, it’s my fault.”

 

“It kinda is,” Doyoung murmurs. Donghyun puts pressure on his neck and Doyoung is whining for him to stop.

 

Donghyun groans as he releases the pressure on his brother’s neck, “You got Jae all worried.”

 

Oh yeah. Jaehyun. Doyoung takes one glance at him, and he feels weird. It’s anger. Frustration? Something. He can’t describe it, he doesn’t want it. The rational part of his head wants to offer warmth and comfort, but his stomach boils with something he doesn’t fully understand. An emotion that makes him want to tell Jaehyun to step out. To get out.

Jaehyun looks small. It’s a first. The confident man with the unrivalled libido and unfulfilled sex drive never looks small. In any circumstance, it would trigger the overly protective side of Doyoung, the one that finds a way to make some porridge out of leftover rice and expired packs of ramen, but right now he couldn’t even stomach the idea of looking at Jaehyun.

 

So he doesn’t.

 

He directs his attention to his fiancé instead, “Could you excuse us for a moment?” he asks softly, “I’d like to talk to my brother.” It takes Taeyong one glance at Doyoung for him to understand. He nods and places a tender kiss on his forehead, “I’ll go help your mom prepare dinner.” Doyoung nods grateful as Taeyong sweeps Jaehyun out of the room and closes the door shut behind him.

 

Once they’re alone, Donghyun sighs, “I take it you disapprove.”

 

“I don’t understand,” he says rubbing his temple, “I’m still quite disoriented.”

 

Donghyun lets go of the ice pack and moves to stand by the end of the bed, “I was planning to get your result from mom, maybe dad if we were lucky. I hit the jackpot with this one, didn’t I?”

 

Doyoung shakes his head, “You and him, it doesn’t make sense.”

 

“I know I’ve only ever brought women over, but I’ve had my fair share of men,” Donghyun says. It’s not that, Doyoung thinks. It’s not that he’s done his rounds with other men. It’s that he’s doing it with Jaehyun. This was a catastrophe waiting to happen.

 

“You can’t date Jaehyun,” Doyoung says quietly, “It’s not right. Just, please, anyone but him.”

 

Donghyun shakes his head, “Can’t do that, bro” he says gently, shyly. Donghyun never looks like that, unsure and tender. He’s always mischievous and shameless, always so confident.

 

“Jaehyun, he’s different.”

 

“That’s what you said about the Russian girl, and the girl you hooked up with in a motel,” Doyoung hisses, “That’s what you said about that Hyesung girl before you left her out in the literal rain because you couldn’t commit.”

 

Doyoung loves him, truly, but his brother’s track record with relationships is anything but pristine. Jaehyun fawned so much about his new lover and Doyoung thought that maybe he found someone who would be good for him, but Donghyun is indecisive and unpredictable. He can be in love with you one day and be climbing a mountain in Peru with some random girl he meets at the train the next. He’s heard too many stories and mishaps involving his

brother and his misunderstood lust. Jaehyun doesn’t deserve that.

 

“I really don’t think you and him will work, hyung,” he says pleadingly, “It won’t work out.”

 

Donghyun looks at him sternly, “Is that really how you feel? Do you really think I’m that much of a fuck up?”

 

Doyoung shakes his head, “Of course not,” he gives at Donghyun a wavering look, “I just don’t think he’s the right person for you.”

 

Donghyun purses his lips. His eyes look sad, betrayed, “I expected this from dad, maybe even mom, but not you.” Donghyun turns away from Doyoung and walks to the door, he puts his hand on the knob preparing to turn it but hesitates. He looks back and looks at Doyoung.

 

“Don’t be mad at Jaehyun, he didn’t know anything. None of us did,” Donghyun says, “He was really concerned, and it’s obvious he looks up to you if his stories were anything to go by,” his voice is blank, disappointed, “so just leave him out of it, okay?”

Doyoung nods.

 

“To be expected of my perfect little brother,” the warmth that usually accompanies the teasing tone is gone, replaced by the quietest of resentment lurking between the almost whispered words. Donghyun doesn’t spare Doyoung a chance to say anything back as he closes the door gently.

 

Taeyong comes into the room a few moments after his brother leaves. He has a cup of barley tea, which he drops by Doyoung’s bedside table. He notes the forlorn expression on his fiancé’s face and scoots into his space.

 

“Didn’t go well?”

 

Doyoung shakes his head, “I told him that he shouldn’t date Jaehyun.”

 

Taeyong frowns as he flicks Doyoung’s forehead, “You’re really infuriating sometimes.”

 

“You don’t know him like I do, Yong, he’s going to drop him like nothing. Hyung gets so bored easily, it’s not the right fit.”

 

Taeyong sighs, “How would you know that?”

 

“Jaehyun is absolutely in love with him, it’s so obvious. He really wants it to work, but I’m just so unsure of what hyung will do once he gets bored.”

 

“Do you really think that lowly of him?”

 

“I don’t! I’ve seen too many flings to know how my brother operates. He falls in so easily but falls out so easily as well.”

 

Taeyong, noting the agitation from Doyoung, moves to rub his back consolingly, “Just give them a chance. Your brother has been nothing but supportive of us, the least you can do is extend the same consideration to him.”

 

Doyoung grumbles as he sinks into Taeyong’s touch, “That’s one more conversation I’ll have to go through. I just wanted to come out to my parents and introduce them to you, why did everything have to go to shit?”

 

“Most things that involve you and your brother do. I don’t know why you’re even surprised.”

 

Doyoung moans into Taeyong’s chest as the other chuckles sweetly at him.

 

“Speaking of conversations, your dad kinda caught me and Jaehyun in the kitchen. For some reason I think he misconstrued and thinks I’m dating your brother.”

 

Doyoung slowly raises his head and looks at him confusedly, “What makes you say that?”

 

“He asked me if I had any history of arson.”

 

—

 

Doyoung thought that his parents would accept the news with some sort of violence. Turns out, the news only comes to confuse his father.

 

“So you’re dating my eldest son, but room with my youngest son?”

 

Jaehyun, in all his charm and dimples smiles and nods.

 

“But you didn’t know that you were dating your roommate’s brother?”

 

“Yes dad, he didn’t know. No one did, that’s why little boy Jim here fainted,” Donghyun says waving at Doyoung.

 

Their mother flicks the elder of the Kim brother’s ear with clear intent, prompting Donghyun to flinch. Jaehyun, who’s seated on the side of his brother, chuckles softly as he reaches to gently caress Donghyun’s swelling ear.

 

Doyoung averts his eyes from the scene as he feels the gentle churn of guilt course through his gut as the sight. He turns his attention back to his father who seems to be gesturing wildly to him.

 

“So this is your boyfriend then?” he says gesturing to the general space surrounding the man beside him. Doyoung nods curtly, “We’ve been dating for over two years.”

His father hums, “No wonder all the dates I set up for you went to hell. If you told me earlier, I could have set you up with Mrs. Huang’s son.”

 

Doyoung rolls his eyes, of course his father isn’t going to reject him, he’d never be able to embarrass Doyoung anymore that he already has.

 

“First of all, you’re literally saying this in front of my boyfriend,” Doyoung says gesturing to a giggling Taeyong, “Secondly, Lucas is far too young for me. He’s also not my type.”

 

His father doesn’t even falter, “No offence to you,” he pauses looking at Taeyong, “I’m sorry, I keep forgetting your name, my boy.”

 

Taeyong, relishing the moment too much, coughs a bit before recovering to speak, “It’s Taeyong.”

 

“Well, Taeyong-ssi, this isn’t any attack on your character, because I’m sure you’re a wonderful person if our Doyoung dated you for two years. I’m just saying that if he chose to tell us earlier, I wouldn’t have given him all those lovely ladies’ numbers,” he says matter-of-fact, much to Doyoung’s misery.

 

Taeyong laughs heartily, more heartily than he would if any other person said it. There’s something in the way his eyes glimmer in the gossamer glow. It’s like sunflowers bathed in the morning glow of the sunlight—like an ember brought back to life. Doyoung gets lost again, in the way his lips move, in the way his cheeks flush, in the way he just is. His fiancé is enjoying too much, but Doyoung doesn’t mind. It’s a new sort of happiness and it makes Doyoung feel like he’s accomplished something.

 

“I know some gay boys in the area,” his father says with pride, “a lot of them volunteer at the center, fantastic sense of fashion those bunch,” he continues with a flourish of his fingers, “but they have the worst case of impulse buying! I’ve been teaching them to purchase more frugally for months, but none of them listen. It’s a shame, they could be saving so much money instead of buying too many pieces of clothing they’ll eventually donate.”

 

Doyoung sighs, “Dad, you’re going off tangent again.”

 

His father, stopping from his story stops and strings some apologies, “I’m quite sorry my boy, I just really want to help them with some of their more extreme purchases, but back to my main point,” he huffs before sipping some of his tea, “I could have been giving some lovely boys’ numbers all this time if I had only known.”

 

Sensing the aggravation etched all over her son’s face, Mrs Kim interrupts her husand’s tirade, “Now, enough of that for now. Let’s look at the present,” she says warmly, “Taeyong here is a real talent in the kitchen and an artist.”

 

Doyoung’s father gasps in pleasant surprise, “Are you truly? What art do you dabble in? You know I’ve been talking about getting a large painting for the dining room with the missus here, but I haven’t had the chance to really look into it, an opinion from a true artist would really help.”

 

Taeyong smiles all shimmering and proud, “I would be delighted. If there are local shops nearby, I can help with picking out art that can fit the two of you,” he says.

 

Doyoung smiles, he’s about to chime in and shower Taeyong with praise but a prodding foot stops him. He moves his gaze to the source of the intrusion and finds Donghyun staring at him. Doyoung scrunches his eyebrows in confusion. Donghyun slowly lowers his gaze to his hand and gently caresses his middle finger before hooking on his ring finger. Then it hits him.

 

He shakes his head frantically, hoping that Donghyun can cut him some slack for the sheer number of things that have transpired today.

 

He does not.

 

Donghyun intensifies his kicking, which prompts a more violent retaliation from Doyoung. Then, in true Kim brother fashion, they footie war under the table that increases in aggression as the battle of attrition wears on, culminating in the soup rattling in anguish.

 

Their mother, much too used to these types of shenanigans, immediately makes a grab for the elder brother’s ear, “Please stop annoying your brother, Donghyun.”

 

Donghyun, appalled and infuriated that it is him faced with his mother’s ire again, hurls a chopstick at Doyoung. It hits him square on the head as the metal stick ricochets off his head and lands on Taeyong’s plate.

 

Irked, Doyoung stands, “Mom, may Donghyun and I be excused for a bit,” he says in the sweetest tone he can muster despite wanting to strangle his brother and drowning him in the east sea, “we just need to clear some things up.”

 

“If it means you two can act like civilized human beings in front of our guests then, by all means, beat each other up.” it’s their mother’s nice way of saying, “fix your problem, before I fix you.” It’s both subtle and chilling to the bone—the most effective remedy to any squabble in the Kim household.

 

The two brothers bolt out of the table, but not without offering sickeningly sweet gestures to their guests. Doyoung a warm kiss to Taeyong’s temple, and Donghyun a tender pinch to Jaehyun’s cheek.

 

Out by the hall Doyoung gives his brother a stern look before talking, “I don’t want to tell them. Not yet.”

 

Donghyun rolls his eyes, “That’s the whole point of us coming here, to tell them that you’re off to marry this dude.”

 

Doyoung sighs, “I’m just…” he pauses and shakes his head, “I’m not yet ready. Taeyong doesn’t care anyway. Just don’t worry about it, I’ll tell them. Let them get used to him first.”

 

Donghyun takes a moment to mull over his response and sighs, “Come clean little bro, straight arrow. No more secrets.”

 

Doyoung nods, “Taeyong hasn’t had this in god knows how long,” he says quietly, “He’ll never admit it, but he misses having a family. I just want them to learn to like him.”

 

Donghyun stops and smirks at his brother, “Of course it’s for him. Everything for him,” he says more to himself. He gives Doyoung a good look over and reaches to give him a half hug, “You two will make the perfect, sickeningly sweet wedded couple. Mom will be so proud.”

 

Doyoung eases into the hug, “I’m sorry, for the whole disapproving your relationship with Jae thing.”

 

“Eh, it’s fine. I understand where you’re coming from,” Donghyun says in reply, “I would disapprove of me too.”

 

“Have you even defined what the two of you are?” Doyoung asks as they start slowly strolling back to the dining table.

 

“Eh.”

 

Doyoung stops and directs a jab straight at his brothers stomach, “You fucking ass!”

 

Donghyun doubles over at the sudden attack, “I think I deserved that.”

 

“Jaehyun called you his boyfriend!? What do you mean you two haven’t defined the relationship,” Doyoung hisses into his brother’s ear.

 

“It probably just slipped out. You know me, I’m not one for labels. It’s too much for me.”

 

“You’re unbelievable.”

 

Donghyun stands up straight and puts a defensive hand on Doyoung’s shoulder.

 

“Look. We have a good thing going, I don’t want to ruin it. Not just yet. You know I have a weird attraction to disaster.”

 

He isn’t lying. The number of failed relationships Donghyun has had can never be fully encapsulated by whole numbers. He surveys his brother before their phone call before coming here replays in his head. In fitting rage, he smacks Donghyun’s head one more time.

 

“What bullshit were you spurting when you said that Jaehyun would make Taeyong look like the most perfect husband? Are you saying Jaehyun isn’t any good? Is that what you really think of him. I swear to god hyung I will—”

 

Donghyun covers his brother’s mouth in exasperation, “Listen, I only said those things to appease you. I didn’t mean any of it. Fantastic acting on my part.”

 

Doyoung bites at his brother’s fingers, causing the older Kim to hiss as he extracted his hand to safety.

 

“Look here, I won’t meddle with your business, the least you can do is let me navigate my own relationship, okay!?’ Donghyun screeches, “Yes, I did say those things, but you sounded like you wanted to cry and I just wanted you to calm down.”

 

“Look,” Jaehyun is absolutely wonderful. I’m so privileged he even agreed to go out with me in the first place. I don’t know how this whole serious thing works, so I’m taking it slow. Just please give me a chance, okay?”

 

Doyoung thinks it through and sighs in defeat. Donghyun, despite his reservations, has let Doyoung steer the ship, the least he can do is to extend the same consideration to his brother.

 

“Fine. But one slip up from you, just one, and I’m pulling the plug and getting Jae out of here. Got it?”

 

Donghyun ruffles Doyoung’s hair in reply, “whatever makes you happy kiddo.”

 

—

“So you fixed everything with your brother,” Taeyong asks two hours after Doyoung’s one-on-one with Donghyun. They’re settling into bed, Taeyong flaccid on the bed with a thin sheet mask equally pliant over his face. Taeyong has a particular night routine, one that becomes exceedingly complicated as the nights grow drier and colder. Doyoung doesn’t do much with his skin beyond the basics. Taeyong on the other hand has a chemist kit full of oils, serums and ampoules that can double as an aesthetician’s office. Doyoung has commented that maybe his fiancé was going a bit overboard with all the things he puts on his face. Taeyong ignores him every time.

 

“Kinda, I think. We came to an understanding,” Doyoung says as he settles next to Taeyong. Doyoung makes to cuddle next to him, only to be rejected because no one gets between Taeyong and his regimen.

 

“I won’t pry into your agreement, mostly because I don’t want to be named an associate when it blows in your faces,” he says relaxing deeper into the mattress, “I’ll just be here to clean up once it does happen.”

 

“I’m thankful for your support,” Doyoung says facing the ceiling with a huff.

 

“I know you are,” Taeyong says, “now give me ten minutes of silence so you can get cuddles.”

 

Doyoung sticks his tongue out before settling with checking his phone. He’s about two-thirds done reading Yuta’s extensive review of the latest anime he watched. He vaguely remembers reading things like structural integrity, cataclysmic, and cute boobies when he hears a faint rap at the door.

 

He looks up from his phone to his meditating fiancé and realizes that he has no choice but to attend to their evening visitor. He opens the door to find the unlikeliest of sights.

 

Jaehyun in Les Miserables pajamas—that Doyoung knows without a doubt belongs to Donghyun—hugging a pillow that spans the length of his torso.

 

“Jae?”

 

Jaehyun doesn’t even say anything in reply, just enters the room and plops himself at the feet of an unsuspecting Taeyong.

 

“Doie, three more minutes then I’ll give you all the kisses you want.”

 

Jaehyun grimaces, “Ew, I don’t want your kisses old man.”

 

“There’s something bad happening and I have three more minutes before I am willing to deal with it, so Doyoung _you_ deal with it.” Taeyong says before he kicks Jaehyun off the bed.

 

Doyoung helps Jaehyun off the floor and sits him on his side of the bed, “What’s wrong, Jae?”

 

“Your brother is shit,” Jaehyun says into his pillow, his words slightly muffled and his hair dancing as he huffs.

 

“Preaching to the choir here, you’ll have to give me a better explanation,” Doyoung says sitting beside Jaehyun and offering a comforting hand to his back.

 

“It was after dinner. It didn’t really hit me until then that this is the same person who brought the contortionist into your house that one dinner,” Jaehyun says quietly. He looks impossibly small and frustrated. His eyes bright with frustration and sadness.

 

Jaehyun has always been an expressive person, may it be happiness or frustration, he wears his feelings like a glove and project all that he feels so openly, except that is, sadness. Jaehyun always had difficulty telling people when he frustrated and sad. Jaehyun said it was because he didn’t want to be an inconvenience, so Doyoung made a habit of trying to read between the fine lines of Jaehyun’s temple and the clenching and unclenching of his jaw.

 

It’s easy to see that this is not just some petty fight about the number of glossy lips Donghyun has kissed, it ran deeper and Doyoung knows it.

 

“I realized I didn’t want to be the spectacle from last Christmas,” he says slowly, sadly, “so I asked him what he wanted from us and he just froze.”  

 

“You really like him, huh,” Doyoung says gathering Jaehyun in his arms. His roommate only nods forlornly. “One thing you have to understand about Donghyun is that he’s indecisive. He doesn’t know what he truly wants sometimes. Maybe give him some time to mull it over.”  
  


“In any case, I’ll never let you be just a spectacle of last Christmas. You’re too cute for that.” Jaehyun smiles, albeit, very faintly. Doyoung ruffles his hair and pinches his cheek.

 

Taeyong finally rises from his skincare stasis and pinches Jaehyun’s cheeks too, “Your cheeks are so soft, they feel like brioche.”

 

Jaehyun swats them both away, “way to ruin a moment Taeyong-hyung.”

 

Taeyong just latches onto his fiancé, “Your taking away from my Doie time, go bother someone else, kid.”

 

“You’re really old and your hair stinks,” Jaehyun bites back as he sticks his tongue out at Taeyong.

 

Doyoung has never really understood how Taeyong and Jaehyun got along. One minute they were all cordial with each other, the next they’re at each other’s throat for whatever reason. Doyoung just lets them be. None of them have resorted to hurling knives at each other yet, so Doyoung thinks that it’s okay not to intervene yet.

 

“I wanna sleep beside Doyoung-hyung,” Jaehyun whines cuddling next to Doyoung like a puppy that has been separated from its master for an entire hour.

 

“You literally don’t fit, Jung,” Taeyong says, “if you want to stay in _our_ room, you sleep on the floor.”

 

Jaehyun pouts and tries his best to puppy dog eyes to get his way, but Taeyong has the upperhand on this one.

 

“Sorry Jae, you’re gonna have to take the floor.”

 

Jaehyun glares at Taeyong before he stomps his way to the dresser to grab sheets to lay on the floor.

 

Doyoung looks at Taeyong and tries his best to puppy dog eyes his way to some sort of compromise, but the narrowing of Taeyong’s eyes says that this arrangement is non-negotiable. He just gets up from the bed and shuts the light muttering a soft apology to Jaehyun.

 

“You Kim brothers are all the same! Horrible people.”

 

—

 

When Doyoung wakes up the next morning he feels heavy. Not the anxiety of the world weighing down on my shoulders kind of heavy, but more like there’s something that feels like a Jung Jaehyun latching onto my entirety heavy.

 

He’s about to move before the bedroom opens and Donghyun barges in without so much as a knock. Taeyong is still fast asleep, but Jaehyun, being the fractionally larger koala that he is glares at the intruder and hides himself behind Doyoung.

 

“Jae, can you come to the room so we can talk.”

 

Doyoung, still half-asleep and questioning if the world was still travelling along its axis, can only stare at the scene before him.

 

Jaehyun sinks further into Doyoung’s back, his body weight slowly edging Doyoung out of the bed.

 

Donghyun takes the silence as a resounding no.

 

“Breakfast is ready. Mom said to eat now because they want to hit the mall for last minute shopping and bonding or some shit.” Donghyun leaves without another word.

 

Doyoung, finally coming to terms with the world at large, kicks Jaehyun off him, his rommamte dropping on the hardwood floor with a loud plop. Taeyong remains obliviously asleep.

 

“You have to talk to him,” is the first thing he says to Jaehyun, “I know he can be a total dick, but you need to talk to him.”

 

Jaehyun pouts, “I don’t want to,” he says crossing his arms, “it’s partly your fault why we’re like this anyway. Endure me.”

 

“What did I do to your relationship with my brother? I didn’t even know you and him were a thing until less than twenty four hours ago.”

 

“That’s exactly it!” Jaehyun all but screeches at Doyoung, “I know so much about him without actually knowing him and now I’m not sure about how I feel.”

 

Jaehyun sinks to the floor, “I’m not blind Doyoung, I know you don’t approve of our relationship. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”

 

There it is, Jaehyun looks so small, so fragile again, as if the utterance of a word would break him and leave him beyond repair. It’s always been so hard for Doyoung to see Jaehyun as someone who just graduated college. Sure, he has his post-collegiate flubs, like that time he forgot to pay for his cellphone bill twice, or that time he forgot that he had to pay rent. But by and large, Jaehyun seemed so put together, so impenetrable that Doyoung never really saw him as someone still navigating the delicate trappings of adulthood. Yet here he is looking so lost and confused, and Doyoung can’t help but see a lost boy wanting to understand the world around him.

 

“Why does my opinion matter to you,” Doyoung asks, stepping down to sit next to Jaehyun. Doyoung approaches him and offers his hand. Jaehyun, despite his pout takes his hand willingly into his own.

 

“You never taken my advice, Jae. Why now?” Doyoung looks at him and sees his eyes slinking into something deep, something bitter and it hits Doyoung.

 

“You never took my advice seriously because none of your relationships were serious,”

 

Jaehyun nods, eyes trained on the floor.

 

Doyoung sighs and puts a reassuring on Jaehyun’s nape, “I vowed to my brother not to interfere between the two of you, so I won’t, but you gotta know he’s trying his best with you,” he says lifting Jaehyun’s chin up, “as someone who’s seen him with all his past flings, this is the most effort he’s put, so just talk to him even if he is an ass.”

 

 “You don’t have to do it right now, but you have to dress up, so go to take a shower while Donghyun is grabbing breakfast.” Jaehyun sighs but follows Doyoung’s instructions.

 

“You’re a piece of work,” Taeyong murmurs all of a sudden, causing Doyoung to jump in mild surprise.

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

Taeyong shakes his head gently in reply, “Nothing. Just bring me to the bathroom, wench.”

 

Doyoung knows relenting against a newly woken Taeyong would be too much trouble for what it was worth, so he obeys and picks up Taeyong from the knees and his back, his fiancé smiling as Doyoung lifts haphazzardly lifts him off the cushion.

 

“I would tell you how strong you are if you weren’t shaking so much.”

 

Doyoung slightly flustered by all the physical excertion he was doing at ass in the morning can only grunt in response.

 

“Doie, you seriously need to hit the gym with me. You look like you’re trying to deadlift a manatee.”

 

Doyoung grunts in response, “You just gained weight.”

 

“Last week you told me I need to gain weight. Make up your mind, babe.”

 

“You should start lifting me around.”

 

“Oh Doie, you know I would baby you till the ends of the earth, you just need to ask.”

 

“Okay. I like being fed.”

 

Taeyong giggles as he plants a soft kiss on Doyoung’s nose, “consider it done, my love. Now take off my clothes and let’s take a shower.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here is the mess. I wanted this to be one complete fic, but it got away from me and now I have to do it in parts. I really don't have anything much to say, except Jaehyun is a soft, cute boy with many feelings. 
> 
> Comments and kudos would be deeply appreciated!
> 
> Please course all questions and concerns here: [twitter](https://twitter.com/doyoungsupreme) or [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/doyoungsupreme).


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